


You Walk That Way

by Coffin Liqueur (HP_Lovecats)



Category: Biohazard | Resident Evil (Gameverse), Resident Evil - All Media Types
Genre: Bittersweet, Character Study, F/M, Game: Resident Evil 3 Nemesis, Mild Language, Prompt Fic, Prompt Fill, RE3 Ending, Relationship Study, Short One Shot, Unrequited Crush
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-09
Updated: 2020-04-09
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:14:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 524
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23565889
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HP_Lovecats/pseuds/Coffin%20Liqueur
Summary: In which Carlos sees the beauty in leaving things be.
Relationships: Carlos Oliveira/Jill Valentine
Comments: 9
Kudos: 69





	You Walk That Way

Carlos isn't gonna ask.

He's got all the time in the world to, he guesses, on this flight; for some reason, he thinks of that idly to himself - as a joke, perhaps - but he's already made up his mind: he's not gonna ask Jill _the Question._

Is it out of respect?

Maybe. A little bit. That's what he consciously tells himself, at any rate - after all the shit that's gone down this past yea-many hours, he needs to remind himself where he can that he, himself, is not one of the bad guys.

(Anymore, at least.)

Not like it's wrong, either. He _does_ respect her.

And she's put up with way too much shit tonight for him to go giving her another headache, which... chances are at least fifty-fifty that asking her if she's fuckin' _seeing anyone_ at the end of a repeated chain of near-death experiences would do.

...God, has she _more_ than earned anyone's respect.

She's what they make you _wanna_ think the cops are like, when you're young. When in the end, many an institution ain't too different from his merc-work, including the types you encounter in it.

And yet you still get those diamonds in the rough who make it feel like _where you wanna be_ , like Mikhail, or like, well...

_...her._

Fun and ironic that that's exactly why he wishes it felt right asking her. Or asking her for... anything, thereabouts. Anything future-related.

Rare people, well...

...You never wanna think you're never gonna see something uniquely beautiful again.

Yet... _puh._

Kinda defeats the whole concept when you get to see it all the time by contrast, doesn't it? It slows you down, takes the fire out of your blood... Carlos was never a fan of the idea of letting himself get complacent. Turning into _that_ kinda guy.

Weighing all the pros and cons...

...he thinks he's satisfied with this.

More than satisfied.

Ending the ride with a literal flight off into the pink-and-orange sunrise, having lived to see more. Time fighting off the night with her capping off the way it should - the ending of one hard, rough adventure.

He can tuck it all into his memory and pretend that she's gonna have a quiet, nice, fucking relaxing life now from here on out where nobody and no-thing can ever bother her again. He can tell himself, hell, she's gonna get a nice big lump of compensation money from who-knows-where for her trouble and retire early to some Mediterranean island where she can stare at the sea all day and... ride horses, or drink martinis on the beach, or whatever it is people who've gone on cushy early retirements do. Simply stand forever as _the woman, the myth, Jill Valentine._

Tamp down the fact that he knows she's not gonna do that; probably wouldn't if she could.

She's gonna take a more active route.

A more, well...

... _admirable_ one.

But... he can only concern himself with himself, ultimately.

He knows he's got hell of a lot more work ahead of him.

Hopefully it's good.

And if ( _"if"_ ) she does keep on soldiering on, they'll be in solidarity in spirit.

**Author's Note:**

> And then we never saw him again.
> 
> (Please, Capcom, now that you've made Carlos _so frickin' cool_ , surely, you _have_ to use him in a future game now!)
> 
> Written for the r/FanFiction April Daily Prompt challenge. April 9th: "Conflict Is The Spice Of Life, But There Is One Your Character Has Been Avoiding".


End file.
